A photo I took a while back of the Chihuly Exhibit in the Arboretum, with White Rock Lake’s Winfrey Point in the distance across an arm of the lake. This huge glass sculpture is called “The Sun.”
Chihuly with Winfrey Point in the background, across the water.
A shot I took from a bicycle ride on Winfrey Point, with the Arboretum and the Chihuly Sun in the background.
Arboretum from Winfrey Point, a peloton of cyclists going by on the road.
I’m still finding Chihuly Photographs I’ve taken that I like. Here’s another one.
In the world there is nothing more submissive and weak than water. Yet for attacking that which is hard and strong nothing can surpass it.
—-Lao Tzu
A view from the White Rock hike/bike trail of this.
A sculpture, The Neighbor, by Joe Rosenthal in A Woman’s Garden in the Dallas Arboretum. A bit of Chihuly is visible floating in the infinity pool beyond.
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For a larger and higher quality version – Go To the Flickr Page
Any one that goes down to the Dallas Arboretum this summer will, understandably be wowed by the glass sculptures that Dale Chihuly has placed among the gardens. However, there are some other sculptures down there that are also worthy of looking at and blogging about.
One of my favorite little hidden spots is the Sunset Garden – with its particularly uncomfortable bench which looks down into the Pecan Parterre Garden and its century old pecan tree.
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The view from the bench in the Sunset Garden, down past the fountain into the Pecan Parterre Garden, its Pecan Tree and the bronze Playdays.
Next to the tree is a wonderful bronze statue of a girl delighted to be stepping among a bunch of frogs. The sculpture is Playdays, by Harriet Whitney Frishmuth.
Playdays, by Harriet Whitney Frishmuth
The sculpture must be intended as a fountain… although it is dry now.
I really like this sculpture, for its grace and for its joy.
I did a little online research and found that the sculpture is modeled after the dancer Desha Delteil. The sculptor used Delteil for a number of her works – her favorite model.
There is a series of photographs of Desha Delteil as a model in the George Eastman collection of photographs – you can see why she would be popular for a sculptural model.
Desha Delteil, from the George Eastman Collection
Information from http://dic.academic.ru:
In 1916, Desha was hired to pose for sculptor Harriet Whitney Frishmuth and modeled for several of Frishmth’s female bronzes, which Frishmuth entitled Desha. She became Frishmuth’s favorite model, posing not only for a number of her best pieces but also for her studio art classes. She is known to have posed for The Vine and Roses of Yesterday, and is presumed to have posed for The Hunt based on similarities of form and figure. [1] Delteil modeled for other artists as well, being highly valued for her ability to hold difficult poses for extended periods.
The dancer seems to be best known for doing the “Bubble Dance” in a 1929 musical comedy/revue, “Glorifying the American Girl” featuring the Ziegfeld Follies. I was able to find a copy of the film online – here.
However, Desha Delteil’s “Bubble Dance” is nowhere to be found. There are little bits of a very graceful dancer carrying a large transparent sphere moving in and out of scene, but no extended “dance.” And yes, if you were wondering, I did sit down and watch the whole thing. I like old movies.
The thing is, “Glorifying the American Girl” is a pre-code production from 1929 and in the decades since it has been cut down to remove any nudity or other morally unacceptable scenes. It could be that the Bubble Dance was simply too racy for the future.
This appears to be a theatre advertisement for Desha Delteil doing her famous bubble dance
Again, research online seems to indicate that UCLA has restored a complete, uncensored version of the film but hasn’t released it to the public. Maybe the famous “Bubble Dance” is in there somewhere.
I know this is way too much information about a simple little bronze sculpture in an obscure corner of the Dallas Arboretum – but you know how easy it is to fall down that rabbit hole once you start clicking away on the Google Searches.
For a larger and higher quality version – Go To the Flickr Page
On the way to Toad Corners
I found a picnic table in the large open Pecan Grove area of the Arboretum to sit and read for a bit. A family went by, on the way through the Crape Myrtle Allee to the popular water feature called Toad Corners.
Kids love to play in the water at Toad Corners
Kids love to play in the fountain. Some folks like to make it a destination on hot summer days – sort of an artistic water park.
This means you!
The signage next to Toad Corners sure doesn’t make it look appetising, though.
The family came back from the fountain after about an hour and ate a picnic lunch at a table near mine. They all looked healthy enough.
For a larger and more detailed version Please Visit the Flickr Page
This is a cool bronze sculpture at one end of the McCasland Sunken Garden at the Dallas Arboretum. You can see the sculpture in the foreground of the photo I used once for a Sunday Snippet I did to practice my character sketches.
These might not be as good as Peggy’s… we seem to be taking pictures of the same things – sort of Dueling Chihulys, so to speak – but it’s all good.
For a larger and more detailed copy, Please go to Flickr
For a larger and more detailed copy, Please go to Flickr
For a larger and more detailed copy, Please go to Flickr
Bill Chance 